That's Not How You Play Bumper Cars
by PokeyDotes
Summary: Somehow, after the showdown with Hetty, Nell had been sidelined alongside Deeks, both forbidden from working on the case, and both ordered to rest.-Not romantic, mentions of possible Nell/Eric.
1. Chapter 1

**Written because there aren't enough stories with Deeks and Nell.**

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It takes a few moments after he wakes up for him to remember where he is. It takes even longer for him to remember why he feels as though he went nine rounds with the Hulk-and lost. He tentatively stretches his legs, testing to see how much the battered muscles are going to scream in protest before he braves turning over.

He's lying on the couch near the bullpen, the same place he's been since he was 'grounded'. As he becomes more aware of his surroundings, he realizes that at some point in time, his boots had been removed and someone had covered him with a blanket. The stiffness in his neck makes him wish he had thought to grab a pillow before allowing the exhaustion and painkillers to knock him out.

From the low light coming through the windows, he can tell he's slept for several hours. He turns his head to look if anyone else is around and stops when he notices someone sitting in the chair next to him—not sitting, balled up is a more accurate description.

Nell has her bare feet in the chair, her toes tucked in between the cushion and the armrest. Her knees are against her chest, her arms held tightly against her in an effort to get warm. She has her head leaning slightly back, her mouth barely open as she sleeps. An identical blanket to the one currently draped over him lays crumpled on the floor beneath the chair. The entire scene makes her appear to be even smaller than usual.

Seeing the large, multi-colored knot on her forehead, Deeks feels his stomach tighten. He knows it's not the only bruise she has, and he feels sorry since he's partly responsible for her having them.

As he tries to shift his weight in order to roll onto his side, a sharp pain tears through his hip, forcing a painful grunt from his lips. He had tried to hold it back, to not make any noise, but the intensity of the pain had caused a white light to momentarily blind his vision—not for the first time that day-and he hadn't been able to stop himself from crying out.

He watches as Nell's head snaps up, causing her to wince at the sudden movement. As soon as she gets the vertigo under control, she looks towards Deeks, worry written on her face. "You're awake," she observes, trying to determine if he's okay. "How you feeling?"

"Like I got taken out by a Ford F-150," he tells her, managing to work a smile in between grimaces.

"Makes sense, seeing as you _were_. But for the record, it was a Chevy Tahoe," she clarifies as she climbs out of the chair, moving to kneel next to the couch. Deeks lies perfectly still as she looks at the side of his head.

"Uh, Nell. Whatcha' doing?" he asks when she starts to stare very intently at his eyes.

"Checking your pupils, you've slept for over five hours—"

"Yeah, thanks to that freaking horse tranquilizer Hetty tricked me into taking."

"She hardly tricked you. You were begging Kensi to go fill your prescription. Seriously though, it could be from your head injury, Deeks."

"Nell, I promise you, despite what Kensi's been saying, my head is fine."

"You have four stitches on this side alone," she says, pointing to the small line of stitches hidden beneath blond curls, "not to mention the three staples on top or the eleven stitches on your hip. You broke your arm. You can't even walk a straight line. Deeks, you should still be in the hospital."

"They let me leave—"

"No. No, you signed out AMA. That's why Hetty grounded you," she argues, not even trying to hide her frustration.

"Nell, I'm not about to drop dead. I'm good. Busted and broken, but still good." She just levels an icy glare at him, one he's almost certain she learned from either Hetty or Kensi, before she shakes her head and turns to pick up her discarded blanket.

She has difficulty with the task on account of her right arm being in a cast and her left wrist firmly wrapped in a black, medical brace. Deeks waits until she finishes carefully folding herself into a ball once more before speaking again. "You should probably still be at the hospital, too."

She winces as she tries to tuck the blanket around her knees. "They _actually_ let me leave."

"Then why are you grounded, too?" he asks, as he moves to sit up, stopping the moment his cracked ribs decide to remind him why he was on the couch in the first place.

"I'm not grounded. I'm babysitting," she smiles when he frowns.

"I don't need a babysitter," he states, more than slightly annoyed by the thought.

Nell shakes her head as her smile widens. She starts counting on her bruised fingers, "According to Hetty, Sam, Kensi, Callen, and Hetty, you do."

"You said Hetty more than once," he tells her, worried about how hard she had hit her head on the sidewalk.

"That's because she said it more than once." She gives him a crooked, tight-lipped smile when he rolls his eyes. She watches as his chest moves, his breathing short and fast. "You should probably sit up a little, and take a few deep breaths every now and then."

When he turns to face her, a look on his face that's half confused and half screaming "Are you crazy?" she stands and walks to the small chest near the back wall. She pulls out two pillows before letting the lid slam shut. "You need to take deep breaths so you don't get pneumonia. I know you know this," she says as she walks back towards the couch. "You told me and the doctors repeatedly that this isn't the first time you've had broken ribs."

She kneels back down next to the couch, holding the pillows with her broken arm while she reaches for him with her sprang wrist. He bites his lip as he lets her help him sit up. The movement's awkward, mostly because they're both in pain. If he thought it were possible, he'd tell her not to worry, that he could sit up on his own. But truth be told, the beating his body took is starting to take its toll, and he knows he isn't getting off the couch without help.

Once they manage to get his back somewhat lifted off the couch, she quickly tucks the two pillows behind him as he tries to scoot back, resting in a slight sitting position. He waits for the shaking to subside before he takes two semi-deep breaths, wincing as the white light shows in the corner of his vision. "For the record, they're just cracked and bruised, not broken."

"You still need to take deep breaths." She grabs her blanket and moves to sit at the end of the couch, careful not to hit his feet. Neither one says anything about her change of location, or the fact that her knee is now resting against his foot.

He can tell from her posture and the way she keeps glancing at him that she wants to say something. "Something on your mind?" he asks when he realizes she's likely to remain quiet. When she forces her eyes to meet his, he's surprised at the emotion there—sadness, guilt, fear.

She takes a deep breath, absent-mindedly pulling at a string along the hem of the blanket. "You could have died today," she finally says, her voice barely above a whisper.

Deeks looks at the knot on her forehead again; trying to stop the guilt he's feeling from taking over. "You could have, too," he responds, his voice just as quiet.

She looks down at the blanket in her hands, keeping her eyes trained on the steadily unraveling hem. "But I didn't…because you saved me." She gives a small smile, but keeps her eyes on the blanket, "I haven't said 'thank you' yet. So…thank you."

After several seconds, he finally manages to say, "You're welcome". He stares at her a moment, taking in the injuries he can see. He knows the doctor had said that she was lucky-that they both were. No concussions, no internal bleeding, or ruptured organs. Between the two of them, counting his cracked ribs, there had only been four broken bones.

Yes, they were lucky, but he still can't help the guilt he feels when he looks at her. He had saved her life, but he had also pushed her—well, threw her—hard enough to cause her to break her arm and hit her head.

It was supposed to be short and easy. Nell goes in, switches the hard drives, and then she comes right back out again. In theory, it had been a simple, easy plan. Sam and Callen had followed her inside, keeping a distant but attentive eye on her as she made her way to the necessary computers.

The switch had gone beautifully. Sam and Callen were able to lie smoothly, manipulating the receptionist into gladly showing the "prospective clients" around the building. When the coast was clear, Nell had quickly exited the building, heading straight for her car.

Deeks and Kensi were both close by, each making sure no one had followed her out of the building. Kensi was near the large fountain, seemingly texting while she discreetly watched Nell walk past her, before following at a safe distance. Deeks had been in the parking lot leaning against Kensi's silver SRX while he listened to Eric's voice telling him that Nell was on the way.

He and Kensi were to follow Nell back to the mission where Eric would sift through the information on the hard drive, hopefully finding them what they needed in order to learn exactly why money was being supplied to suspected terrorists out of the large office building.

That was the plan. Short and easy.

Once Deeks saw Nell enter the parking lot, he had quickly grabbed the keys from his pocket, ready to get in the driver's seat as soon as Nell was at her car. When Nell was a few steps away from him, he saw Kensi turn her head and reach for her gun at the same time he heard Eric screaming in his ear for Nell to watch out.

There were no tires squealing, no dramatic slow motion. Everything had happened all at once. As soon as he turned to see the large, white, truck making its way towards Nell, he had started moving. Once he made it to her, there wasn't enough time to stop his forward momentum and pull her out of the way. Instead, he used the momentum, lifting her off the ground and pushing her away from him.

Less than two seconds later, he had felt an immense pressure against his left side, immediately followed by the sensation that he was falling, and then pain.

He doesn't think he passed out, at least he doesn't remember it. All he knows is that after the pain set in, he was looking up to see Kensi and Nell leaning over him, each sharing a look of panic.

Nell had been holding her arm against her chest as she tentatively placed her other hand against his side, trying to determine the source of the blood. Kensi had quickly returned her gun to its holster before dropping to her knees, and not so gently applying pressure to either side of his head in an attempt to simultaneously stop the bleeding and stabilize his neck.

Sam and Callen had made it before the paramedics. Sam had looked after Nell, trying his best to stop her shaking and take inventory of her injuries. Callen had taken over Nell's place next to Deeks, helping Kensi keep Deeks still and to try and stop the bleeding.

They had been together the entire time after the paramedics arrived. They had ridden to the hospital together, Nell sitting next to the gurney as a paramedic took both their vitals. The only time they had been separated was when they had been taken for x-rays; the rest of the time their gurneys had been side by side in the ER, the thin curtain separating the two beds pulled back so that Kensi could keep an eye on both of her team members.

They had been stitched up, arms put into a cast, ribs wrapped, and heads checked before the doctors gave them the prognoses. Nell had been given the all clear to leave, and had ridden back to the mission with Kensi, effectively leaving Deeks behind to rest and recuperate until the next day.

However, an hour of being left alone with nothing to do but think about the case and the memory of being hit by a truck, Deeks had promptly asked Nurse Ashley for his discharge papers, insisting that he could rest just as well at home, that he really didn't feel all that bad.

In hindsight, everything had looked worse than it was. Or at least, that's what Deeks had told an incredibly pissed-off Kensi when he called her to come pick him up from the hospital. It's also what he had told the rest of the team when he arrived back at the mission only to find a beyond angry Hetty.

Apparently, the doctors had told Hetty that they had planned to keep Deeks overnight, and she had thought that was an excellent idea. To say she was not happy to learn that Deeks had left the hospital despite the doctor's advice that he shouldn't would have been an understatement.

Now, he's confined to the couch, along with Nell who had quickly realized she wouldn't be much help due to the fact that she couldn't even type with both hands currently out of commission. When he first walked in, she had been sitting at one of the computers upstairs watching as Eric tried to retrieve information from the smashed hard drive.

She had been the first to notice Deeks walk into the room. Next was Eric who had given Deeks a look comprised of equal parts surprise and gratitude, something Deeks plans to question the tech on as soon as he's given the chance.

Somehow, after the showdown with Hetty, Nell had been sidelined alongside Deeks, both forbidden from working on the case, and both ordered to rest. That had been six hours ago—shortly before Hetty had offered him something for the pain resulting in him being passed out on the couch. The combination of painkillers given to him at the hospital and the suspected horse tranquilizer administered by Hetty had already worn off, leaving his body in a constant state of throbbing pain.

He squints his eyes shut, causing his discomfort to be evident on his face, which prompts Nell to shift uncomfortably on the couch before asking, "Are you ready for another?"

Deeks opens one eye, peering at the woman sitting next to his feet. "Another what?"

"One of your pills," she answers in a tone suggesting it should have been obvious. "Are you sure you don't have a concussion?"

Ignoring Nell's last question, Deeks raises his head to look towards Hetty's office, hoping to find her sitting at her desk with the small bottle of pills Kensi had picked up from the pharmacy. When he finds only an empty desk, he lets his head fall back against the pillow before closing his eyes to the pain. "Nell, can you keep a secret?"

He once again opens an eye, watching as she slowly nods her head. "I kind of miss the morphine," he admits as he braves taking another deep breath.

He feels her climb off the couch and can only imagine the crooked, all-knowing smirk she's hiding as she reaches for her bag. "Does this mean you regret leaving the hospital?" she asks as she pulls two orange prescription bottles out of the bag.

He takes both bottles from her, reading that one belongs to her and the other to him. "I never said that," he says. Due to the cast on his arm, he struggles to open her bottle, but eventually manages to shake a large pill identical to the 'tranquilizer' Hetty had given him earlier into her battered hand.

As she reaches for a small cup on the table next to the chair she had been sitting in when he first woke up, he slowly manages to open his own bottle, quickly dry swallowing the pill before handing both bottles back to her.

As soon as she's settled back near his feet, blanket wrapped comfortably around her knees, Deeks clears his throat, trying to keep them from falling into an uncomfortable silence. "So, whatcha want to do until we pass out again?"

Nell looks up, trying her best not to blush at the mockingly suggestive smile he's giving her. "I was kind of hoping they'd be back before then, so I could go home." She absently glances towards the stairs, "Or maybe Eric could drive me so I wouldn't have to wait on Kensi."

Deeks smiles again, silently counting to six in his head before continuing. "Kensi's driving you home?"

"Yep, she offered while we were still at the hospital." She gently rubs her thumb along a cut on her finger, before holding up both of her arms. "It's not like I can drive with this mess."

"Not to mention the tranquilizer."

"And the tranquilizer," she agrees, letting her arms rest against her knees. "She said that she was driving you home, too."

Deeks slowly nods, having already assumed as much, even though he hadn't really asked his partner, yet. Before he can ask exactly what it was Kensi had said about him, Nell cuts off his train of thought. "She was really worried about you."

Deeks looks at her, and once again thinks she looks too small beneath all her injuries. "It looked worse than it actually was. The truck wasn't really going fast enough to do too much damage." His voice is calm and steady. He knows his partner had been worried. He could tell from her body language, her stiffened posture, the fleeting glances she kept giving him at the hospital and on the way back to the mission when she thought he wasn't looking. All of that told him that she had been worried, but what really convinced him was how quiet she had been.

Kensi had been upset, yelling at him over the phone when he had called to ask if she would pick him up, but once she arrived at the hospital, she had been stoic—her dark eyes full of anger.

Over the years, Deeks has learned to read Kensi's varying degrees of anger. When he gets on her nerves, slightly annoying her, she fights back with witty banter, every so often a quick punch to the shoulder or ribcage. When he's done something to actually make her angry, she yells, quickly putting him in his place, letting him know what he's done wrong. Either way, she's usually very vocal—at least when it comes to him.

It's when she's quiet that he knows she's really upset. She closes up, blocking everyone out, including him—especially him. Everything about her demeanor screams that she's pissed; yet, somehow she still manages to stay in control. She looks dangerous.

That's exactly how she had looked when she arrived at the hospital to pick him up. She was quiet, and definitely pissed. In short, she was worried about him.

"It was going fast enough to do _enough_ damage," Nell says, once again drawing him out of his thoughts. "And you're right, it _did_ look bad."

Deeks tries not to think of how he must have looked before the doctors had cleared the blood away. "You still haven't answered my question. What do you want to do?"

"There's not a whole lot we can do."

"If no one's up stairs we can go play Plants vs. Zombies on the big screen." He smiles thinking about the giant touch screen.

She just looks at him incredulously, one eyebrow arched high on her bruised forehead.

"What? You more of an Angry Birds kind of girl?" he asks in response to her look.

"Deeks, you can't even sit up without help. How exactly are you planning to stand for a long period of time in order to play a game that would require both arms and a full range of motion?"

"I kind of expected you to pull the whole "Hetty doesn't allow games in Ops" card, not the whole "I'm gonna kick your ass with logic" card."

She smiles as she rolls her eyes. "Fine, Hetty's already angry with you. There's no need for her to fire you because you were playing Angry Birds on the big screen."

Deeks matches her smile, "You'd be playing Angry Birds, I'd play Plants vs. Zombies."

"What ever," she looks back towards the stairs, biting her lower lip before turning back to Deeks. "Maybe Eric will let you set up his Xbox down here."

Once again counting in his head, Deeks points a finger at Nell, declaring "That's seven."

"Seven what?" she asks, thoroughly confused.

"That's the seventh time you've mentioned Eric since we left to switch the hard drives."

"No it's not…." Deeks just stares at her, imitating the incredulous look she had given him moments before. "Well, of course I'm gonna mention him. We were talking about him reading the hard drive," she defends.

Deeks shakes his head, cutting her off. "No. I'm not counting anything related to the case or the op. I'm counting the times you've just managed to mention his name at random times."

She shifts her position, propping her elbow on one knee before resting her chin on her sprang wrist. "_If _I mentioned Eric, I'm almost certain it would have been relevant, not random."

The smile that Deeks' give her takes over his entire face as he begins listing the 'relevant' times she had mentioned Eric throughout the day.

"In the parking lot when Callen asked if you were ready, you pointed out that this op isn't likely to be too dangerous—you were wrong, by the way. I believe your exact words were 'It's not like I'm in danger of getting frelted like Eric'." He raises the pitch of his voice as he tries to mimic hers.

She squints her eyes, as she argues her side. "Relevant. I was comparing the two situations, trying to convince myself that nothing was going to go wrong." When Deeks points a finger at her forehead, she rolls her eyes, agreeing, "Yes, I was wrong."

"Thanks to you and your _random_ mentioning of Eric, I now know that he broke his arm when he was learning to surf."

"Once again, relevant. We were having our arms wrapped in casts. I was simply providing a little conversation."

"Okay, I _might _give you that one. But just so we're clear, I didn't mention any of the numerous broken bones Kensi's had, and trust me, there's a lot," he says, still refusing to completely let her off the hook. "_But_, what about when we were in the ambulance and you actually called me Eric?"

Deeks watches as her eyes momentarily widen in surprise, clearly having not realized she had done so. "No, I didn't," she states clearly, although her tone suggests she isn't too certain.

"Uh, yeah ya did. I asked if you were okay and you said 'I'm fine, Eric.' You totally did."

The deep coloring of her blush covers her entire face and neck, disappearing beneath the collar of her shirt. "I had just hit my head. Head trauma," she says, quickly trying to justify her slip up.

Deeks just smiles, knowing the doctor had said that other than a massive headache and an ugly bruise, the knot on her head hadn't caused any significant damage. "Do you want me to list the others?"

She squints her nose as she shakes her head. "I don't really see any need for you to."

Deeks laughs and immediately regrets it when a sharp pain radiates through his side. She winces at the sharp inhale of breath he takes in response to the pain. "Sorry," she apologizes after he quickly recovers.

"Not, your bad. Probably just Karma taking a cheap shot at me for pointing out your weakness."

She smiles sleepily, feeling the effects of the painkillers, "Weakness? What weakness?" she asks in a playfully innocent voice, before yawning and leaning her head against the back of the couch.

Deeks' reply is muffled and distorted by a yawn of his own. "Your weakness for blond haired, blue-eyed surfers with…wait a minute. Nell, you have a thing for me don't ya?" he teases, pushing her knee with his foot.

"Exactly how hard did you hit your head, Deeks?"

"Ouch! Punching my pride while I'm down. Admit it, you just don't want to have to fight Kensi for me." He smiles, letting her know he isn't remotely serious.

"Are you always this cocky? How does she put up you?" she teases in return.

"I'm not cocky, I'm keenly observant, not to mention loveable," he bites back a laugh at the look she gives him. He shuts his eyes, letting the medicine pull him towards sleep. "I'm just messing with ya."

"I know," she says, soft and slow as she pulls the blanket up to her neck.

"You don't have room for other guys, your mind's too preoccupied with, uhm…uh what's his name, the guy upstairs."

"Eric."

"That's eight."

"Shut up," she laughs as she punches his shin before both settle in and wait for sleep.

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**REVIEW!... I'm sorry, that was rude. _Please_ review?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This was intended to be a one shot, but due to the many requests for a second chapter and the resulting feeling of euphoria I felt at people actually reading and enjoying my story, I had no choice but to cave. I know it's been a while since the first chapter, but seeing as how I didn't plan on this being more than a one shot, I didn't know where else to go with it. I'm not going to lie, I struggled with this, but I sincerely hope it doesn't disappoint. **

**I want to thank everyone who reviewed or added this to their favorites. It's like a writer's cure for almost anything. I want to thank SilverSentinal21 for pointing out the fact that Eric's eyes are green, not blue. I apologize, and I tried to account for that in this chapter. (But for the record, Eric Christian Olsen thought Barrett Foa's eyes were blue, so it's not too far of a stretch to assume that Deeks would, too.)  
**

**BTB, italics are flashbacks.  
**

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The distinct feeling of someone roughly moving his feet causes him to wake up. It's darker than it was before, moonlight creeping through the window mixes with the soft lights of the lamps stationed along the wall creating a warm and comfortable glow around the large, open room.

Looking towards his feet for the source of the movement, Deeks notices Nell. She had attempted to lie down on her end of the couch instead of sitting up, and had unknowingly pushed her feet beneath his blanket in order to keep her toes warm.

He lets his head fall back against the pillow as he listens for any sound that would let him know whether or not they're alone. Other than the sounds of the air conditioner shutting off and Nell's steady breathing, Deeks only hears silence.

He has no idea what time it is, but he's certain it can't be too late. The team wouldn't have left him and Nell on the couch all night, someone would have woken them up to take them home—at least he thinks they would. As he reaches for the phone in his pocket, he can tell the pain meds he had taken earlier are still working, dulling the pain in his ribs to a near, tolerable throb instead of the sharp stab he had been met with the last time he moved.

He blinks at the brightness of the phone's screen, squinting to read that it's just after nine o'clock. He closes his eyes again, thinking about trying to go back to sleep, when he's suddenly aware of an uncomfortable pressure in his lower abdomen. Frowning, he opens his eyes again, glancing once more at Nell's sleeping form as he tries thinking of a way to get off the couch without waking her or causing himself too much pain.

Placing his good arm on the back of the couch, he slowly pulls himself up, stopping when the pain in his ribcage returns to the sharp stabbing variety. He briefly considers remaining on the couch, holding it until someone else comes by, but a quick reminder of how embarrassed he'd be if he ended up peeing his pants forces him to move.

Bending his legs slowly so the sudden movement won't wake his fellow couch potato, Deeks exhales through gritted teeth as he swings them over the side of the couch. He counts to ten, preparing himself for the pain he knows is about to come.

Despite the preparation and his stern insistence not to make a sound, a painful grunt fills the silence, shortly followed by a tired "damn it." It takes a moment for the vertigo to pass, before he can open his eyes and the room not tilt. He looks back to the couch, smiling when he notices that Nell hadn't moved. The deep and steady movement of her chest coupled with her slightly parted mouth tells Deeks that her meds are still in full force.

Feet clad only in a pair of worn socks, he slowly and steadily makes his way towards the bathroom. The quiet, darkness gives the building an eerie feeling, only exaggerated by the fact that he's alone. Reaching the bathroom, he cringes as he pushes his shoulder against the door, pulling at stitches and pushing against strained ribs. By the time he makes it to the urinal, he's about ready to sit down again. The entire ordeal is awkward and difficult due to the fact that he only has one useful hand.

Feeling better, he takes the time to ease the waist of his pants down enough for him to see the bandage covering his hip. He hadn't seen the gash when he was first admitted to the hospital, having spent the time focusing on the resetting of the bone in his arm and worrying about Nell.

Now, as he pulls at the tape holding the gauze in place, he swallows back the nausea he feels in response to seeing the red, swollen mess that used to be his hip. The gash is several inches long. Dark black knots are threaded the entire length of the wound, puckering the skin at even intervals. What Deeks hopes is antibiotic, gives the entire thing a gooey, wet look.

He gingerly presses down on the tape, securing the bandage back over the wound before pulling his pants back in place. The waistband rubs against the bruises decorating the left side of his body. The many marks are darker than he remembers, time having given them the opportunity to grow and blossom.

He looks in the mirror, wrinkling his nose in response to his appearance. His hair is parted funny, the curls dried in place by the blood and iodine used to clean the gashes in his head before stitching and stapling them closed. Reaching his hand up, he lets the pads of his fingers trace over the staples, wishing he could see what they looked like. He knows he couldn't hold a mirror high enough above his head to see the wound without hurting his ribs. Turning his head sideways, he notices yellow streaks of iodine running from his hairline down to his collar. The inside of his ear is caked in dried, brown blood.

"Well, aren't you a pretty mess," he mutters into the silence, repeating the nurse's earlier words.

"_I think I can hear her frowning from here," he says, watching as Kensi continues walking back and forth near the nurse's station, her phone pressed to her ear as her hand covers the other, attempting to block out the loud noises echoing around the emergency room. _

_When Kensi angrily pulls her phone away, growling in frustration as she pushes more buttons, Nell quietly turns to Deeks. "I don't think that's frowning you're hearing."_

_Deeks smiles at her through the bars on their gurneys. She's sitting up, and he watches as the nurse continues to mold Nell's cast, constantly shaping it to form around her tiny wrist. Nurse David had quickly finished wrapping Deeks's arm in a cast, before moving on to Nell. _

_Nell simply rolls her eyes when a pretty brunette walks to Deeks's side, a light southern accent exclaiming, "Well, aren't you a pretty mess," as she pulled on a pair of latex gloves, "I'm Ashley, the nurse practitioner, and I'm gonna patch you up Mr.-" _

"_Marty. You can call me Marty." _

"_Well, Marty, I'm gonna start with your head before moving to your hip. Is that okay?" she asks, eliciting an all-too sincere smile from Deeks. _

"_That's fine, Ashley," he answers, and Nell doesn't have to see her face to know that Nurse Ashley is smiling in return._

_The stitches along the side of his scalp aren't as bad as he had thought they would be. The blue sheet lying over his head blocks most of his view, leaving him with nothing to do but listen to Nell carry on a conversation with the two nurses. The staples freak him out a little, more than he'll ever admit out loud. He doesn't feel it, but the sound and the knowledge that someone is actually stapling your head back together is enough to make the hair on the back of his neck stand on end._

_Nell patiently waits for the nurse to finish patching up Deeks's head. He's a little upset to see that she's still wearing the clothes she had arrived in, while he had been stripped down to nothing and haphazardly wrapped in a revealing hospital gown. The fact that he is halfway lying on his side only exacerbates his feeling of being over-exposed._

_As Nurse Ashley finishes cleaning the area around his stitches, she moves to close the curtain between him and Nell. Thankfully, she leaves a small gap so Nell can see Deeks's face, offering him a small, encouraging smile. He grimaces when he feels the cool air hit his exposed backside, shortly followed by a cold dampness as his caretaker sterilizes the area. He can't help the slight hiss that escapes him when Nurse Ashley injects something into the wound, insuring that he won't feel the stitches. "Are you okay?" Deeks looks over to see Nell's concerned face as she watches him react to Nurse Ashley's administrations._

"_Yeah, she was a lot cuter when she wasn't stabbing me in the side," he quips, earning another eye roll from Nell._

"_You do know I can hear you, right?" Nell hears Ashley ask from behind the curtain. _

"_He knows," Nell promises with a smile to match Deeks's._

Deeks shakes the memory away, and turns to begin the long trek back to his makeshift bed, silently hoping that Nell hasn't decided to take over the entire couch. Without the urgency provided by a full bladder pushing him to move forward, he finds the pain caused by movement to be more noticeable than it was on the way to the bathroom. Halfway back, he's forced to lean against the wall, allowing a wide archway to support his weight as he catches his breath and prepares to finish the pitiful journey.

* * *

Nell isn't sure what woke her up. All she knows is that she was suddenly aware of her surroundings, not remembering making the transition from 'asleep' to 'awake'. She had been dreaming one moment, and the next she realized she was looking at the ceiling, studying a small water spot near the wall, contemplating on whether or not Hetty knew it was there.

She tentatively moves her tongue against the roof of her mouth, hating the dry, thick feeling caused by the action. Cotton mouth. Adequately named, seeing how she feels as though she's tried to chew through a wad of cotton balls.

Looking around, she takes in her surroundings, feeling a slow assault of memory as the last twenty-four hours makes themselves remembered, mostly in the form of a dull pain radiating in her frontal lobe. She stretches her legs out, only just noticing the extra legroom on the couch. A quick glance to the side of the couch confirms that he couldn't have gotten too far, not unless he decided to venture across Los Angeles barefoot.

She lets her eyes trail from the sight of his boots, to look for any sign as to where he could have gone.

"_I swear I could kick his stubborn ass. I should, you know. I should just pick up where that damn truck left off…" Nell keeps quiet as Kensi vents her frustration with her partner as she works to untie the last of Deeks's laces, removing his boots, and dropping them on the floor beside the couch. _

_As Kensi stands to push stray strands of hair out of her flushed face, Nell turns her attention back to the man in question currently passed out on the couch, the effects of his pain medication finally showing through. Despite the obvious pain radiating from behind his blue, glassy stare, Deeks had maintained that he was fine, working overtime to hide any true discomfort for fear that Kensi would coerce Sam into tossing him in a fireman's carry and dragging him back to the hospital._

_When Hetty had forced Deeks onto the couch, banishing him from any part of the mission aside from the couch or the bathroom, Nell had felt a combination of relief and guilt. Relief that he wouldn't be getting hurt any more, and would finally get the rest he was convinced he didn't need. Guilt that she was the reason he was hurt and now sidelined._

_Both feelings instantly vanished the moment Hetty turned her gaze on Nell, informing her that she too was confined to the limited spaces. Stalking down the stairs, she wanted to channel some of that ire that Kensi seemed to possess when dealing with an unmanageable Deeks. If he had just stayed at the hospital, or even had gone home, she wouldn't be stuck on babysitting duty. However, as soon as she caught sight of him sitting at his desk, purposefully avoiding the couch, she let the inner quest for revenge die in transit. _

_He was completely oblivious to the fact that she was walking down the stairs. His eyes were trained on the stapler sitting near the overflowing in-box, and his jaw was clenched tightly, causing the muscle in his cheek to twitch._

_His posture was radiating anger, and his eyes were clouded with something akin to sadness. A tough combination, made even scarier by the state of his clothes and the dark stains coating the side of his neck and head. _

_Kensi and Hetty were worried, and while Hetty tried using logic and authority to handle her feelings, Kensi relied on fury to help her deal with the fact that Deeks had been hurt and refused to listen to anything the doctors had said. The moment Kensi had left for the pharmacy, openly cursing Deeks's stubbornness, Nell had made a vow to figure out why everyone Hetty decided to employ looks at either anger or humor as appropriate outlets for all emotions, save happiness._

_Walking forward and sitting in Sam's empty chair, Nell thought that then was as good a time as any to begin. _

_With a soft clearing of her throat, Deeks's attention was drawn from the stapler to look at Nell's questioning eyes. "What?" he asked, causing Nell to quirk one eyebrow. She's almost certain no one's ever accused Deeks's of being a man of few words, but leave it to Hetty to toss that in the air. His voice had sounded tired, and his eyes showed a hint of embarrassment. _

"_I've been exiled, too." She had smiled, feeling a little awkward with a Deeks that wasn't smarting off, wasn't trying to lighten the mood. But not one to disappoint, he let the corner of his mouth rise into a crooked grin, "I thought the rules said only one could be voted off the island at a time."_

"_Well, with one Henrietta Lange as our chief, I feel she could sink the whole island if she saw fit, rules be damned." _

_Deeks had shaken his head, letting it fall back only to regret the movement as he frowned in pain. "You know what" he asked, not really stopping to see if she was listening._

_He simply smiled, not one full of mirth, but one fueled by self-deprecation. "I don't think I've been called stupid so many times in such a short time frame since I was fourteen."_

_Nell hadn't known what to say, and was surprised to see Deeks letting his guard down in front of her. She expected it for Kensi, but definitely not her. Then again, she hadn't expected him to push her out of the way of an oncoming vehicle either._

"_They didn't mean it like that," she had assured him. The entire team, save for her and Eric, had stated in one way or another how 'stupid' and 'idiotic' his leaving the hospital had been. When upstairs, he had waved it away, quickly offering a comeback to Sam, Callen, and Kensi's sharp retorts. But sitting next to him in the nearly empty bullpen, she could see that it was all for show. "They're just worried. The doctor's said you need rest."_

"_I remember them saying the same for you."  
_

"_Yes, but they wanted you to rest in the hospital. They told me to go home." When he slanted his eyes to meet hers, she had shrugged her shoulders. "I spend more time here than my apartment, so in a way this is like home."_

"_I call bull," he said, a hint of his former smile shining through as he tilted his head._

_Before she had a chance to defend herself, Kensi had walked through the door, brandishing two, small white bags and quickly handing them off to Hetty who had somehow appeared out of nowhere._

"_Mr. Deeks, that doesn't look like the couch." Hetty reached in one of the bags and extracted a large, orange pill bottle. "You need to rest."_

"_Careful, Hetty. It almost sounds like you care," he teased as he accepted the large pill the older woman placed in his hand._

"_I do care, Mr. Deeks," she had said, catching his eye and causing Nell to kick him under the table. Part of her hoping Hetty had heard his sheltered admission. _

_Before she knew it, he was laid out on the couch oblivious to Kensi's mumblings as she worked his boots off his feet._

_She waits until Kensi leaves, following Sam and Callen towards the parking lot before she allows herself to sit down. She's a little surprised when Hetty walks towards her, two blankets folded in her arms. "Ms. Jones, it probably wouldn't hurt for you to get some rest as well."_

"_I guess I'm still a little wired," she lies, already feeling the effects of her own medicine pulling her to sleep. She smiles when Hetty gives her that look, the one that always makes Deeks whisper, "Resistance is futile." Hetty knowingly smiles and hands Nell one of the blankets before moving to lay the other over Deeks's relaxed form. _

"_Watch him for us, Ms. Jones, and get some rest. I think both of you have had enough excitement for the day." And with that, Hetty made her way back upstairs to monitor what was left of her team. _

Now, lying on the same couch hours later, Nell begins to wonder where Deeks could have run off. She's contemplating reaching for her phone and calling him, too tired to actually get up and go search, when she hears the sound of doors straining on their hinges and ruffling of clothes as someone shuffles closer.

He rounds the corner, one hand rubbing at the back of his aching neck, and Nell can literally see the walls go up as he takes in the fact that she's awake. One minute, he's aching and sluggish, and the next he has that smile, the one she's almost certain causes Kensi to overlook many indiscretions on his part, even if she won't admit it.

"You think Hetty will let me use her Segway now?" he asks, as he takes his place on his end of the couch. He doesn't hide the hiss of pain, and even moves to wrap his good arm around his ribcage. Nell knows that Deeks isn't above complaining, trying to milk injuries for all they're worth, but usually the injuries aren't that severe. And when they are, he waits until they're almost healed before he starts his bellyaching, as Sam had put it. Deeks likes being in control, at least as much as he's allowed. Complaining and laughing about injuries is just one of his many ways of holding on to that control. Nell's not expecting anything different this time around.

"Where'd you go?" She tried to rearrange the blanket to cover up her toes, and hides her surprise when Deeks reaches over and pulls the blanket down to hide her feet.

"I had to pee like a pregnant woman," he says letting his head rest on the back of the couch. "Do you realize how far away the bathroom is from this couch? We need to petition Hetty to build one right over there." He gestures to the corner near the overused coffee machine. "You know, for us invalids."

Nell simply rolls her eyes, looking once more at the quiet room. She frowns when she realizes she hasn't spent this much time with Deeks since she met him, definitely not alone. Despite the somewhat morbid circumstances forcing them together, she finds that she enjoys his company, liking the friendly banter that's set the pace since meeting again in the ER after the somewhat tense ambulance ride.

She forces the memory out of her mind as Deeks looks towards her, pointing upstairs. "Have you heard any signs of life?"

Nell shakes her head and looks towards the absence stairs. "No, but Hetty's probably up there. I know Eric is." When Deeks smiles and takes an intake of breath, preparing to say something, she quickly points a finger at him, one eyebrow rising threateningly. "If you say 'that's nine', I swear I'll kick you in your stitches."

Deeks's smile only widens as he raises both hands in defense but tilts his head. "Kick me in my stitches, huh? That almost sounds as kinky as 'punching me in my bullet hole.'" When Nell lets her arm fall and frowns in confusion Deeks just shakes his head, "Never mind. Just a friendly threat from our resident Amazon. Long story."

He moves to push himself up further on the couch and inadvertently brushes his stitched side against the armrest, causing his face to scrunch in pain. Nell can't stop the memory from flashing through her mind this time, the look on his face being identical to the one he had worn while waiting for the ambulance.

_She isn't sure what happened. One second she's walking to her car, feeling relief that the hard part was over, and the next she's lying on the ground, black dots dancing in her peripheral while a sharp pain radiates throughout her arm. _

_She remembers a lot of noise. Yelling, gunfire, glass, and something that made her think of the time her mom drove the station wagon into the neighbor's trashcans. Now, she's fighting a ringing, an honest to god bell ringing in her ears as she turns to look for the source of the sounds._

_She sees Kensi standing next to the white SUV, gun pointed at the slumped form of the driver. She watches as Kensi quickly checks for a pulse before abandoning the man and putting her gun away before moving to the prone form lying on the ground dangerously close to the truck's front tire._

_Nell's moving faster than she thought possible considering the poorly executed acrobatic move Deeks had just helped her perform. She's aware that Kensi's talking to her, but she can't really take in what she's saying. All her abused brain can process is the fact that Deeks is lying on the ground bleeding next to a very large truck with a Detective shaped dent in the windshield._

_Holding her arm tightly against her chest, ignoring the instinctual fight or flight mojo that's telling her to get off her ass, Nell reaches out towards his side, raising the hem of his shirt up to reveal a large gash along his hip. Pulling the shirt back down to cover the gash, she bites her lip and applies pressure to the wound. She feels a lump lodge in her throat, threatening to choke her when the pain her administrations are inflicting causes him to arch his back, his face contorting in pain.  
_

_Kensi's still there, her hands on either side of his neck, talking to him, yelling for Sam and Callen to hurry. Nell isn't aware that the other agents have arrived until Sam's wrapping his arm around her waist, helping her to stand as he ushers her out of Callen's way. _

_She manages to pull it together enough to answer Sam's questions, but she still can't keep her eyes away from the mess lying five feet from her. When she hears the tell-tale signs that Deeks is okay, the tail-end of an inappropriate joke making its way to her despite the noise of the approaching ambulance's sirens, Nell allows herself to take stock of her own condition, an act that she instantly regrets._

_Though the black dots are no longer dancing in the corners of her eyes, the intense throbbing taking place along her frontal lobe tells her she definitely hit her head. She's hoping that's the reason her emotions are going haywire. She's been in dangerous situations before, gone undercover, been caught in the middle of a fire fight, but for some reason, she's finding it difficult to calm her nerves and quell the shaking that's decided to take over her body. _

_She knows for a fact that at least one wrist is broken, the swelling and deep coloring being a dead give away. The sound of Deeks crying out in pain, his face scrunching up yet again causes her to end the injury inventory. She watches in silence as the paramedics load him onto the stretcher and into the ambulance. She doesn't resist as Sam helps her stand from her sitting position on the curb and practically lifts her into the ambulance thanks to her two injured arms._

_The ride is spent with the paramedic asking them questions, alternating his attention between Deeks and Nell. As the paramedic begins asking Deeks a serious of random questions, trying to determine his mental status, Nell lets her mind drift back to the moments before the crash._

_She remembers walking by Kensi, making sure not to give any indication that she knew the woman or to show any reaction when she began to follow her at a safe distance. She remembers hearing Eric's voice telling Deeks that she was almost to the parking lot. She remembers seeing Deeks, casually leaning against Kensi's car, looking like anything other than a man waiting to escort a 'borrowed' hard drive back to a secret government operating facility. _

_Her mind never gets a chance to recall the moment she heard Eric screaming to look out, because the paramedic places a tentative hand on her shoulder, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Sorry, what?" she asks, looking at both pairs of concerned eyes staring at her. _

"_Are you okay?" Deeks asks her with an intense look of scrutiny, as though he's trying to look for any sign of brain damage.  
_

"_I'm fine, Deeks," she intends to say, as her mind unintentionally replays Eric screaming for them to look out. She looks away as Deeks shares a worried look with the paramedic. She barely hears the man ask her friend, "Who's Eric?"_

Deeks's snapping fingers pulls her from the memory. He's staring at her with the same intense study he had in the ambulance, and she realizes she probably does appear to be a little addled. "Sorry, I was thinking about something."

There's no smart comment, no crude joke. He casts a quick glance to the bruise on her forehead before simply nodding his head, showing her he understands, which she's extremely grateful for. The last thing she wants is to have to admit she may have called him Eric while in the ambulance. She's a little embarrassed to admit to herself that she may have been thinking about him more than usual, and being called out on it is not fun. She can still remember the teasing Deeks had started hours earlier concerning her seemingly constant mentioning of Eric.

"_Your weakness for blond haired, blue-eyed surfers with…wait a minute. Nell, you have a thing for me don't ya?" he teases, pushing her knee with his foot._

"_Exactly how hard did you hit your head, Deeks?"_

"_I'm just messing with ya…You don't have room for other guys, your mind's too preoccupied with, uhm…uh what's his name, the guy upstairs."_

The fact that he seems determined to make her admit any feelings she may or may not have for her fellow tech is not one of the things she's growing to like about the man.

It had taken every ounce of self-restraint not to point out that Eric's eyes are green, not blue. That would have just added more fuel to the fire, along with taking Deeks's count into the double digits.

"Well, I'm thinking one of us should probably go up there and ask them about getting us something to eat," he says around a yawn. "And maybe, you know, asking where the hell everybody's at."

"Kensi's got honey buns in her desk," Nell offers, glancing around to double check that Kensi isn't actually within earshot.

"How do _you_ know that?" he asks, already moving to stand and make his way to the desk.

"I gave them to her." She leans down and picks up her phone, quickly sending a text to Eric asking if everything's going okay. "They were going out of date and I knew I wouldn't eat them all before they went bad."

"So you give my partner stale honey buns?" he asks around a mouthful of the supposedly stale pastry. "That's very considerate of you."

"She didn't seem to mind," she defends taking one of the offered honey buns.

He eases himself back onto the couch, trying to avoid hitting the armrest. "So you're saying you wouldn't be offended if someone gave you a bad cupcake?"

"You ever hear of 'it's the thought that counts' Deeks?" she asks, pulling the wrapper away from the sticky honey bun.

"Yeah, when I was in middle school and my teachers would ask if I did my homework, I would tell them, 'No, but I thought about it.' They would tell me that it didn't count, and I would tell them, 'But I thought it was the thought that counts.' They didn't seem to think it was that funny."

Nell can't help laughing as she imagines a very grown up Deeks having the same argument with Hetty over expense reports. She's about to ask what the teachers had said when her phone lights up, alerting her to a text. "Eric says everyone should be back any minute. Hetty's on the phone with the D.A. wrapping everything up."

"Already? How long did we sleep?"

Nell shrugs her shoulders and works on finishing her honey bun. "Not long enough. I'm willing to sleep for another twelve hours or so."

Deeks smiles, "I'm sure Eric would be willing to help you with that," he teases. At the wide-eyed look of embarrassment, Deeks hurriedly raises his hand in apology. "Sorry, too much?"

"Little bit."

"Gotcha. I'll just step back over the proverbially line, and work on getting my foot out of my mouth."

"That'll be hard seeing how your head's stuck up your ass." Sam's laughing voice takes any real bite out of the comment, but Nell still looks to Deeks to see if it affected him. She relaxes when Deeks reaches out a hand for Sam to help him up.

"You been staring at my hiney, Sam? I always thought you were more of a legs kind of guy."

"Watch it, Deeks. Crash test dummy or not, I'll still push you back on your 'hiney'."

"Ah, promises, promises," Deeks says as he awkwardly moves away from the couch.

Callen drops a large stack of papers on his desk, eyeing them with the same enthusiasm as one would a sink full of dirty dishes before turning his attention to his three colleagues positioned beneath the small awning covering the sitting area.

"So, you had all the fun without me, huh?" Deeks asks, smiling at the look of irritation still evident on Callen's face.

Callen smiles, casting Sam a calculating grin. "Hell yeah, living it up while we can," he retorts. Letting his smile drop slightly as he sees the darkened bruises on both Deeks and Nell's faces he asks, "Seriously though, how you doing?"

"I feel about as good as I look," Deeks answers, prompting Nell to ask, "That bad?"

Sam and Callen both laugh as Deeks places his hand over his heart feigning mock hurt. "That wounds me, Nell. Wounds me. I thought you were my new best friend. We were getting along so well."

Nell smiles, reaching one arm over her head as she straightens her legs in a deep stretch. "It was probably the drugs," she jokes, surprising herself by winking at him as she settles back in beneath the blanket, "but I kind of had fun. You know, for the conscious parts."

"It was _definitely_ the drugs, because that has not been my experience," Kensi states as she joins the others, pulling her keys out of her pocket. "I usually can't wait for him to fall asleep in the car." Kensi's harsh words fool nobody as she gives her partner a once over, visually insuring that he's okay. She turns her attention back to Nell, smiling as she says, "Maybe we'll get lucky, and he'll be out before we leave the parking lot."

"So you're still planning on driving us home? For a minute there, I thought you forgot about us, Partner."

"Oh, Deeks. I could never forget you," Kensi says as she lays her handing lovingly on Deeks's shoulder, her wide smile alluding to sincerity. "You're like one of those annoying jingles you hear on cheap commercials."

"Ha, ha" Deeks snorts, rolling his eyes as he looks at Nell. "I forgive you. She doesn't deserve fresh honey buns."

Nell tries to hide her smile by reaching for Deeks's boots as Kensi recognizes the empty pastry box lying on the couch. "You ate my honey buns?!"

"Chill, Kens. I'll buy you some more."

"That's what you said when you ate the last brownie."

Nell doesn't even try to hide the laugh as Deeks responds with, "Hey, it's the thought that counts."

**Please review, it feeds the muse.**


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